Noble family names as a source of Lihuanian surnames

In the middle of 16-th century the names of Lithuanian noble families were used as names of individual nobles, but there were no surnames. At the end of 17-th century the names of Lithuanian noble family names became surnames. A noble family name could be transformed into a personal name directly or indirectly: an additional suffix might be added, a suffix might be dropped or a suffix might be changed. Most surnames which were derived from noble family names at the end of 17-th century have survived until the present timeVytauto Didžiojo universiteta